Date approximate. John Birks and I were graduate students in chemistry at UC Berkeley. I had attempted the Whitney Glacier route the winter of 1969 with Arlene Blum and the UC Hiking club, but we were stormed off. A year and a half later John and I climbed the route successfully, making camp on the Whitney glacier and practicing jumping crevasses.

Blessed with the good weather, we originally wanted to try a Green Butte route, but due to the "not enough snow" concerns switched to Avalanche Gulch. Icy but very doable. Were not able to glissade down, too much ice coverage and icefall hazard. Had to dig up the summit registry, last signed in Oct. No summits in Nov?

Hiked from Bunny Flat to Horse Camp. Set up camp, ate, and slept for about 5 hours. Took off just before 1 am, was on the summit by 12:15. The hardest thing I've ever done!! Glissaded down over 3000' and postholed through slushy snow, arriving back at Horse Camp by 4ish. Packed up and headed back out to the trailhead.

We had high pressure, warm days, very little wind. It was an easy climb for my daughter Erin as her first mountaineering trip. We camped at Helen Lake and left for the summit a 3am. Hit the top at 8:30. We had so much fun glissading down. Very few other climbers this day also. Only ran into about a dozen others.

Have climbed both the north and west side (west side most recent). Did the west gully route to Casaval Ridge, messed up the route and had to traverse the "Cat Walk" which was sketchy at best. Finally hit the Whitney glacier and on to summit. Took about 6 1/2 hours from our bevy site.

They promised a crazy wind, but we decided to get at least to Helen Lake and check the weather there. Got soaked under the rain and tried to dry our clothes all night. Due to this the summit of delayed and we started at 6am. The sky was clear despite the weather forecasts.

It was a cold, but clear and sunny day. We all made it to the top safely. One of our friends did have slip and fall on the way down (chimney's area), so watch every step. Proper footwork at all times. Thankfully a friend got away few a few painful bruises only.

15 hours car to car. Great weather - far warmer than expected. Very little snow at the top. I skipped the normal final stretch and free soloed the opposite side. Went 5.6 maybe 5.7 with some crumbling rock. I couple of hikers started to follow me but I chased them off saying I wouldn't be responsible for them.

It had been a while since I went up Hotlum-Bolam Ridge, so what better way to do it than as a dayhike, traversing all of Shasta? This had been a dream of mine for a very long time. The route is in a different kind of shape than I had remembered, a lot looser on the approach, give yourself some extra time for that. The H-B Ridge is currently exposed all the way to the ramp but no crevasses that I could see; there were open ones 10 years ago when the ridge was not exposed below the ramp, so stay close to the ridge. A couple told me that they had failed to stay on the ridge proper, above the rabbit ears; there is a class 3 scramble if you climb high between the rabbit ears and the ridge. After gaining the rige, stay on the ridge until the headwall where you climb the couloir climbers right; you would then top out on the north summit. Here is my Strava for the climb. It shows the shortcut I use for the first 1000 ft. (saves 30-45 min). https://www.strava.com/activities/660957525

Route Climbed: Hotlum-Bolam Ridge Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2006 Success!
Climbed with balajisv, dnriley, Dan, and Alex. The conditions were great with clear skies and low wind, but it was a bit on the warm side which made the descent a bit sloppy. The center of the "ramp" was 2" of snow on top of ice, so if you are thinking of glissading the ramp, be careful. Though climbing rope slowed our ascent, it seemed practical in hindsight as one of my partners punched though a snow bridge up to his shoulders, below and right of the bergschrund.

Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: August 14, 2005 Success!
Solo dayhike, nine hours from Bunny Flat. The runnels were pretty deep above Helen Lake which made the climb awkward, but not difficult. There was still snow in the chutes, but none on misery hill.

Route Climbed: Cascade Gulch Date Climbed: June 15, 2003 Success!
Pretty, aesthetic route. Climbed with my buddy Brad under a full moon; we were all alone on the route. Windy as all hell at the Shastina saddle. Crossing the Whitney Glacier was not difficult.

Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: June 28, 2002 Success!
Birthday climb with my Cousin Morgan. We made good time up to the plateau, took a breather, then bagged the summit. Enjoyed a birthday shot of baily's after we got back to Helen Lake.

Route Climbed: Hotlum/Wintun Ridge Date Climbed: July 29, 2001 Success!
Climbed with Maria; we ascended on the right side of the ridge, then crossed over to the Wintun Glacier. The snow was soft, the sun was hot, but the summit was freezing... welcome to Mt. Shasta.

Route Climbed: Helen Lake/Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 9, 2000 Success!
Repeated this route with my buddy Brian as he got sick the first time around and only attended the snow school. It was a lot warmer, but more cloudy... a difficult trade off.

Route Climbed: Helen Lake/Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 9, 2000 Success!
Climbed with SWS and my buddy Brian and a collegue. I was a bit out of shape at the time so the climbing was difficult. Some crazy looking guy with frozen snot stuck to his moustache passed us on his way down and the guide said, "you know, we don't have to end up looking like that guy, are you sure you want to continue?" HELL YES!!!

Up and down in 10 hours solo via Avalanche Gulch from Bunny Flats. Perfect weather on top. I was able to glissade from the base of Misery to Helen Lake which made for a quick descent. For acclimation I was at 11k three weeks before, 12k two weeks before, and walked up to the snow line the day before. I want to try a winter ascent with a guide. When it takes about the same time to slide down on your butt than it takes for people like Ghelfi to get up from Horse Camp, you get real humble.

Epic snow year. Normal snow pack, with precip continuing March, April, May and June. By July we were stoked, and so much so that we decided to ski summit. Went with Swiss mountaineer that could make the Matterhorn seem like a gentle rolling hill. Bootkicked to top, Summited an hour before sunset, and had the whole mountain to ourselves to ski down. Excellent conditions, icy chute at top and then nice and wide snowfields, 8000 feet vert!!!

Record-setting, not for me but for the crowds. There were hundreds (if not well over one thousand) of people at Bunny Flats, with parking extended 0.5-1.0 miles away from the parking area. I took my chances and happened to arrive at a spot near the sign-in/permit kiosk, just as another car was leaving. Some people were even double-parked! Horse Camp seemingly had hundreds of people, with tent sites scattered throughout the forest. The climb itself was fairly straightforward and well-defined as a result of so many people going up the route every day for probably at least two weeks. The conga line of climbers was a tad annoying to pass by but overall the trek was worth the effort.